This project was proposed by Derek Allen & Aileen Liu in the Fall of 2017. Camas can take a long time to mature and produce flowers (sometimes up to ten years!), so we’ve instituted a four bed system that gives our camas the time they need to build up the carbon reserves necessary to produce the spectacular blooms that we all know and love. Our system is simple but effective: we sow one bed every year or two, and we harvest the largest bulbs from the oldest bed every four to eight years (the plants let us know when they’re ready by flowering the spring before harvest). The species of camas we grow in these beds are Camassia quamash (common camas) and Camassia leichtlinii (great camas).

You can read the original proposal here (camas specific information on pages 7-9): SER-UW Native Coppice Garden

Read more about the cultural significance Coast Salish Peoples hold to camas, as well as the traditional ecological knowledge used to cultivate and care for camas prairies:

• Muckleshoot Tribe: First Foods
• Camas cultivation in San Juan Islands
• Ethnobotany, Culture, Management, and Use of Common Camas

If you are interested in purchasing some of our camas, send us an email at sernursery@gmail.com. Our bulbs are only available in the fall, but we typically have potted camas plants of various ages available year-round.